Written Answers

Tuesday 11 April 2000

Scottish Executive

Ambulance Service

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has now met the Scottish Ambulance Service to consider the progress of its review of working arrangements at ambulance stations and when it expects to receive the report of the Scottish Ambulance Service’s European Working Time Directive working group.

Susan Deacon: Scottish Executive Health Department officials met with representatives of the Scottish Ambulance Service as recently as 29 March. The Scottish Ambulance Service have advised that their Joint Working Party is still considering the Working Time Directive and its implications to the service for on-call and relief working and will let the Health Department have their finding as soon as the group completes its deliberations.

Disabled People

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for a formal consultation strategy, across all departments, with the Disability Rights Commission.

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to meet the Disability Rights Commission.

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings it has had since July 1999 with the National Disability Council.

Jackie Baillie: There has been regular contact between the Scottish Executive and the National Disability Council (NDC) since July 1999. We look forward to working with the new GB-wide Disability Rights Commission (DRC) which will formally replace the NDC on 25 April 2000.

  I met with Bert Massie, Chair of the DRC, and with DRC officials when they were in Edinburgh recently to give evidence to the Parliament’s Equal Opportunities Committee. We look to develop a close working relationship, across the work of the Executive and more widely, with the DRC and in particular with the Commissioner with special knowledge for Scotland and the Director for Scotland.

Disabled People

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for an information campaign to raise public, commercial and industry awareness of Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

Jackie Baillie: The Executive is currently considering the matter of awareness raising for Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995. That consideration will be informed by discussion with the Department for Education and Employment and the new Disability Rights Commission (DRC). One of the functions of the DRC will be to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people including raising awareness of the requirements of the DDA.

Disabled People

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in implementing the 156 recommendations from the Disability Rights Task Force which were published in its report From Exclusion to Inclusion in December 1999.

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which department has responsibility for considering the recommendations made by the Disability Rights Task Force in its report From Exclusion to Inclusion published in December 1999.

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the 156 recommendations made by the Disability Rights Task Force in its report From Exclusion to Inclusion in December 1999 fall within the powers of the Executive.

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the recommendations of the Disability Rights Task Force in its report From Exclusion to Inclusion in December 1999 can be implemented without legislation.

Jackie Baillie: The UK Government has already announced its intention to legislate to implement the task force’s recommendations on education. A consultation paper on the measures to be included in the legislation was issued by the Department for Education and Employment on 17 March.

  The Executive intends to publish its response to the Disability Rights Task Force report in the summer. To inform the ongoing cross-departmental consideration of the recommendations the Executive will shortly be inviting comments from a broad range of organisations based in Scotland on how to take forward the recommendations in devolved areas.

  A number of the recommendations are specifically directed at the Disability Rights Commission (DRC). The Executive will look to work closely with the new Commission, as they take forward consideration of those aspects of the report, to ensure that account is taken of Scottish circumstances.

  Decisions on whether to proceed in Scotland by way of legislation or otherwise would take account of the responses to the consultation as well as consideration of the package proposed by the UK Government and the DRC.

Disabled People

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) about HMG’s proposal to introduce a bill to provide protection against discrimination of disabled people in schools and in further and higher education.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The Executive is working closely with the UK Government to ensure that planned legislation to implement the education recommendations of the Disability Rights Task Force report will fully address the needs of disabled pupils and students in Scotland.

Disabled People

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what implications the new bill to provide protection against the discrimination of disabled people in schools and in further and higher education proposed by Her Majesty’s Government will have on the current Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Bill.

Mr Sam Galbraith: A consultation is underway seeking views on how the education recommendations of the Disability Rights Task Force should be taken forward in a UK Bill. With one exception, the measures proposed to be included within the UK Government’s Special Educational Needs and Disability Rights in Education Bill, as they relate to Scotland, are reserved.

Employment

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new claimants have joined the unemployment claimant register between May 1997 and the latest date for which figures are available and between May 1999 and the latest date for which figures are available.

Henry McLeish: There is currently no available information on people who join the claimant count, but who have not been unemployed before. Data on the total number of people who have joined the claimant count are available on the NOMIS database through the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Engineering Industry

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of engineering companies have experienced an (a) increase or (b) decrease in order intake, output volume, staffing, optimism and investment over the last year and what steps will it take to assist the engineering sector.

Henry McLeish: Comprehensive data of this kind are not available, although Scottish Engineering collects such data on a sample basis. Latest official data from the Scottish Executive Index of Production show that engineering output in Scotland increased by 6.6% in the year to September 1999. In connection with the last part of his question, I refer Mr Gibson to the answer I gave him in S1W-5420 on 30 March.

Fisheries

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take to implement a single licence system to enable Scottish herring fishermen to operate in both the North Sea and off the West coast.

Mr John Home Robertson: Single area licensing for herring fisheries was introduced in the UK in 1996 to safeguard North Sea stocks.

  A review of pelagic management arrangements in the UK was undertaken jointly by the industry and Fisheries Departments last year. The working group's report, a copy of which was placed in SPICe in January, recommended retention of single area licensing for herring but with some relaxation in the arrangements for uplifting licences. A further review will take place towards the end of the year.

Food Safety

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what involvement it has in the establishment and running of the new Scottish Quality Meat Council.

Ross Finnie: The task of establishing, then running Quality Meat Scotland, which is a registered limited company, is principally a matter for the industry itself. I do however support strongly the merging of the expertise and resources of SQBLA, SPII and MLC’s Scottish operations, into this new body to help tackle the challenges which, unquestionably, face Scotland’s meat and livestock industry.

Food Safety

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation it has had, and with whom, regarding the appointment of the Chairman of the Scottish Quality Meat Council.

Ross Finnie: The appointment of the Chairman of Quality Meat Scotland is a matter for the members of this new company, in consultation with other key industry interests. I have been kept informed of details of the search to find the right Chairman and, at the invitation of the company’s members, my officials have been participating in that process.

Health

Ms Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has given to the NHS to allow the introduction of lighter and more modern materials for orthotic equipment.

Susan Deacon: Resources for the provision of orthotic equipment through the NHS in Scotland are included in health boards' general revenue allocation. It is for the boards to determine, within the funds available, how to manage and deliver local healthcare services to meet the healthcare need of their resident population.

  Scottish Healthcare Supplies, who have responsibility for arranging central contracts for the NHS in Scotland, closely monitors this rapidly advancing area. This ensures that up-to-date technology and materials are available as soon as possible for both the ranges of custom-made and stock (i.e. ready-made) products available to the NHS.

Health

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will commission an independent inquiry into hepatitis C and other infections contracted from contaminated blood products in Scotland.

Susan Deacon: A fact-finding exercise into specific aspects of this issue has been underway for some months now. I met with the Haemophilia Society in September 1999 to discuss their concerns first hand and thereafter tasked my officials with ascertaining the facts surrounding the heat treatment of blood products for haemophiliacs in the mid-1980s. This will assess whether haemophilia patients in Scotland were exposed to the risks of the hepatitis C virus through blood products longer than they should have been, given the state of knowledge at the time. The outcome of this investigation will allow me to decide whether any further action is warranted.

  The Haemophilia Society, the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service and the Scottish Haemophilia Directors have all been asked to provide information. My officials are currently analysing the information gathered. This is a complex area and it would be premature to comment on possible outcomes until all the facts have been properly examined. I have undertaken to make the findings available to the Health and Community Care Committee and to the public.

Holyrood Project

Ms Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what contribution it anticipates that the Scottish Parliament building as currently planned will make to Scotland’s architectural heritage.

Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive believes that the Parliament building should be a modern and operationally efficient building of the highest architectural merit that should both reflect and contribute to Scotland's architectural heritage.

Local Government

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what blockages it has identified in local government which prevent modernisation and how it proposes to remove them.

Mr Frank McAveety: In line with the recommendations of the McIntosh Commission on Local Government and the Scottish Parliament, the modernisation of council decision-making structures and policy development processes is being taken forward by an independent panel – the Leadership Advisory Panel chaired by Alastair McNish. The panel has been tasked with advising councils on the development of their plans for modernisation over the course of this year, and then reporting to us on councils’ change plans by the year’s end.

  During this period it will be for the panel to identify any blockages preventing modernisation and to do what they can to help councils overcome these hindrances. If they cannot be resolved satisfactorily the panel will ultimately report on them to us when they make their assessment at the end of this year. It will then be for us to consider how any blockages, such as exist, should be addressed.

  Management and operational practices may also be a barrier to modernisation in terms of service delivery. A new commitment to continuous improvement in local government has been taken forward on a voluntary basis so far in Scotland under the guidance of the Best Value Task Force. This involved a partnership between the Executive, CoSLA and its members, and the Accounts Commission. The task force’s final report was published in December 1999 and recommended that some legislative amendments were needed to remove barriers to the full development of best value. Scottish ministers are currently considering the final report and how best to fulfil their commitment to deliver best value in local government.

Ministerial Correspondence

Mr Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Health and Community Care will reply to the letter from the member for Banff and Buchan dated 12 November 1999 regarding Mr Robertson.

Susan Deacon: I am giving careful consideration to the issues raised in your letter of 12 November, particularly in relation to the new butcher’s licensing arrangements announced recently, and will respond shortly.

Ministerial Correspondence

Mr Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Finance will reply to the letter of 2 February 2000 from the member for Banff and Buchan regarding his constituent Mr A Davie.

Mr Jack McConnell: I replied to the member for Banff and Buchan on 31 March.

Police

Nick Johnston (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding each Scottish police force received in each of the last three years per head of population.

Mr Jim Wallace: Allocations of Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) to   individual forces for the last three years, per head of population, are shown in the following table:

  GAE per head of population

  


Force

  

1999-2000

  

1998-99

  

1997-98

  



Central

  

£119

  

£114

  

£112

  



Dumfries 

  & Galloway

  

£141

  

£131

  

£126

  



Fife

  

£112

  

£108

  

£107

  



Grampian

  

£116

  

£113

  

£110

  



Lothian 

  & Borders

  

£147

  

£142

  

£145

  



Northern

  

£133

  

£131

  

£124

  



Strathclyde

  

£149

  

£144

  

£142

  



Tayside

  

£141

  

£138

  

£132

  



  These figures are derived from GAE allocated to each force and divided by the estimated population of each area as at 30 June 1997 for 1997-98 and 30 June 1998 for 1998-99 and 1999-2000. The population figures for June 1999 are not yet available. As authorities may set budgets above or below GAE levels, actual expenditure may be different from the GAE allocation to individual forces. The 1997-98 figure for Lothian and Borders includes an additional amount of £4.8 million allocated to assist the force in policing the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting which was held in Edinburgh in 1997.

  Eligible expenditure attracts police grant of 51% up to a cash limit.

Population

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what is the latest estimate of population broken down by local authority area and by constituency in Scotland, and what projections are available on this basis for the future.

Mr Jim Wallace: The latest, 1998, mid-year estimate of population and 1998-based population projections to the year 2016 for local authority areas within Scotland is published by the Registrar General in Table 1 of the booklet Population Projections, Scotland (1998 based) . A copy of the booklet is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

  Population estimates and projections for constituencies within Scotland are not available.

Poverty

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what social and economic indicators are used to measure (a) deprivation and (b) poverty, at what geographic level such indicators are measured and how frequently these measures are taken.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive’s indicators for measuring the effectiveness of action tackling poverty were set out in Social Justice: A Scotland where everyone matters , published on 22 November 1999, and the companion technical document. The Scottish Executive will report on these annually.

  In addition, assessments of deprivation are carried out for specific purposes, including the allocation of local authority grants. The indicators of deprivation used within the grant distribution system are described in detail in the annual Grant Aided Expenditure 2000 Green Book.

  The Scottish Office Central Research Unit published a revised index of deprivation in 1998, combining 1991 census indicators with more recent non-census indicators of deprivation to provide a picture of deprivation in Scotland. The revised area deprivation index was applied at postcode sector level and ranks postcode sectors according to the index.

  Copies of all these documents are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Right to Buy Scheme

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many council tenants who bought their council house and subsequently sold the property were allocated another tenancy in the same local authority in each of the last three years for which figures are available, listed by local authority.

Ms Wendy Alexander: This information is not held centrally. The right to buy legislation restricts the discount available to those who have exercised the right to buy on more that one occasion. This means that any discount a tenant has received on the first sale would be deducted from any discount they would be entitled if they applied to buy another house.

Roads

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware that a substantial crater has appeared at Straiton beside the proposed route for the A701 and that the proposed route could be subject to unpredictable subsidence owing to under-mining, and whether it will reconsider on safety grounds the case for holding a public inquiry to allow the evidence to be assessed.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive is aware that subsidence has occurred recently. It is for Midlothian Council, who now have the benefit of deemed planning permission for their proposals, to decide whether to proceed with the development. There are no powers under planning legislation to hold an inquiry into a particular application after planning permission has been granted for that application. It would be open to the council, however, to consider whether they wished to hold an inquiry under any other powers which might be available to them.

Special Advisers

Nick Johnston (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Special Advisers it currently employs; what pay range each Special Adviser is in, and whether it will provide a breakdown of the administrative costs incurred by each Special Adviser, including the cost of any support staff the cost of accommodating and providing equipment for support staff, and any travel or other expenses incurred by support staff.

Donald Dewar: There are currently eight Special Advisers employed within the Scottish Executive. The pay ranges occupied by individuals are not disclosed in order to protect the privacy of those concerned. However, the current allocation to the Special Adviser Pay ranges which I announced on 22 November 1999 is as follows:

  Range 1 (minimum £16,660 – maximum £32,538) - one adviser

  Range 2 (minimum £28,188 – maximum £52,383) - four advisers

  Range 3 (minimum £41,550 – maximum £82,650) - three advisers

  The estimated annual cost of employing the Special Advisers was provided in my reply to Fergus Ewing on 6 March (S1W-4133). There are four members of staff who provide support to the Special Advisers and other members of the Policy Unit and to the Strategic Communications Unit. They are managed by the Deputy Head of the Policy Unit who is a civil servant and by the civil servants working in my Private Office. Annual pay costs are approximately £61,000, the cost of accommodation and equipment is approximately £11,000 and the estimated travel cost is £1,000.

Voluntary Sector

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will inform Volunteer Development Scotland about the level of funding it will receive for the continuation of the Local Volunteering Development Agency Grant Programme and the Millennium Volunteers Programme.

Jackie Baillie: Funding for Local Volunteer Development Agencies and for the Millennium Volunteers Projects is offered directly to the organisations concerned. For 2000-01, £1 million has been set aside for the continuation of the Local Volunteer Development Agency (LVDA) Grants Programme and £695,000 for the Millennium Volunteers Programme.

  The Executive has offered £90,000 revenue grant to Volunteer Action Dumfries and Galloway to cover the three years 2000-01 to 2002-03 to allow it to continue in its key role of supporting volunteers in the area. 12 other LVDAs also had their support from the Executive renewed for a further three years. The Executive has also issued formal offers of grant to allow two new Local Volunteer Development Agencies, in Moray and East Renfrewshire, to start in 2000-01.

  The Executive has awarded £221,000 to 13 new Millennium Volunteers projects for 2000-01.